VariationinandCorrelationBetweenRateofIncreaseandCarryingCapacity.docVIP

Running head: population growth and density dependence VARIATION IN AND CORRELATION BETWEEN RATE OF INCREASE AND CARRYING CAPACITY Nora Underwood1 Department of Biological Science Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 32306-1100 USA 1E-mail: nunderwood@bio.fsu.edu; fax: (850) 644-9829 Abstract Population growth rate and density dependence are fundamental components of population dynamics. Theory suggests that variation in and correlations between these parameters among individuals or among patches within a population can influence overall population size, but little is known about the degree of variation or correlation in real organisms particularly . Replicate populations of a specialist aphid (Chaetosiphon fragaefolii) were followed on 11 genotypes of its host plant (Fragaria chiloensis) in the greenhouse. Population models were fit to these census data to provide estimates of population growth rate and carrying capacity for aphid populations on each plant genotype. Both growth rate and carrying capacity showed substantial variation among plant genotypes and these two parameters were positively but not significantly correlated. These results support the existence of spatial variation in population-dynamic parameters; data on frequency distributions and correlations of these parameters in natural populations are needed for evaluation of the importance of variation in growth rate and density dependence to population dynamics in the field. Key words: carrying capacity; population growth rate; Fragaria chiloensis; Chaetosiphon fragaefolii; genetic variation; environmental variation; density dependence Introduction The long-term dynamics of populations are determined, at minimum, by two internal factors: the rate of growth and the tendency for growth to be affected by crowding. In the commonly used logistic model, these components of population dynamics are described by the parameters r (intrinsic rate of increase) and K (carrying capacity), but